---
title: Subtasks
description: Break complex or open-ended tasks into smaller, manageable steps.
icon: sitemap
---


In complex AI workflows, breaking down large tasks into smaller, manageable steps can significantly improve the quality and reliability of the results. ControlFlow's subtask feature provides a powerful mechanism for structuring these hierarchical task relationships, allowing you to guide AI agents through a series of logical steps to achieve a larger goal.

Subtasks in ControlFlow are child tasks that must be completed before their parent task can be considered finished. This hierarchical structure enables you to create detailed, step-by-step workflows that an AI agent can follow, ensuring thorough and accurate task completion.

<Note>

When you run a parent task, all of its subtasks are [automatically executed](/patterns/dependencies#automatic-execution-of-dependencies) because they become dependencies of the parent. You don't need to also explicitly run the subtasks or return them from the flow.

</Note>

## Creating Subtasks with Context Managers

One way to create subtasks is by using a context manager. This approach allows you to dynamically generate and execute subtasks within the scope of a parent task.

```python
import controlflow as cf

@cf.flow
def counting_flow():
    with cf.Task("Count to three", result_type=None) as count_task:
        cf.Task("Say one")
        cf.Task("Say two")
        cf.Task("Say three")

    return count_task

result = counting_flow()
```

In this example, the AI agent must complete all three subtasks ("Say one", "Say two", "Say three") before the parent task "Count to three" can be considered complete.

## Creating Subtasks Imperatively

You can also create subtasks imperatively by passing the parent task as an argument when creating a new task.

```python
import controlflow as cf

@cf.flow
def greeting_flow():
    parent_task = cf.Task("Create a greeting", result_type=str)
    
    cf.Task("Choose a greeting word", parent=parent_task)
    cf.Task("Add a friendly adjective", parent=parent_task)
    cf.Task("Construct the final greeting", parent=parent_task)

    return parent_task

result = greeting_flow()
```
This approach provides more flexibility in creating and organizing subtasks, especially when the parent-child relationships are determined dynamically during runtime.

## Generating Subtasks Automatically

For more complex scenarios where you need to automatically generate subtasks based on the parent task's objective, ControlFlow provides a `generate_subtasks()` method. This powerful feature allows for dynamic task planning and is especially useful for breaking down complex tasks into more manageable steps.

For more information on how to use `generate_subtasks()`, please refer to the [Task Planning pattern](/patterns/task-planning).
